Multilingual families have received limited attention in the field of informal science education, especially in the context of science museums. These families may encounter challenges that do not exist for English-speaking families when engaging in science learning within museums that are primarily designed and developed in English (Ash, 2003;…

This dissertation investigates how embodied learning within a Mixed Reality (MR) environment supports young children's science learning, focusing on a honeybee system. To do so, I designed three types of activities within an MR environment to enable young children to assume different perspectives as they create embodied models of honeybees as…

Teaching science involves designing learning experiences that attend to a complex set of relationships between students, the discipline of science, and the places where science experiences are carried out. Unfortunately, with traditional approaches to K-12 science instruction, contributions to learning from students and places are often overlooked…

From my personal point of view, the role of a program evaluator is to gather information about the thoughts and experiences of individuals impacted by the program and to use the findings to inform program improvement. However, participants in the evaluation may be reluctant to share their full thoughts due to factors such as power imbalances and a…

The problem that was addressed in this study was underrepresented minorities' low interest in pursuing computer science as a profession. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to measure underrepresented youth's attitudes toward computer science. The issue remains a pressing challenge in the U.S. This study explored the…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused educators across the country and around the world were required to replace in-person instruction of students with teaching/learning through online platforms for a period of months (Perifanou et al, 2021). Despite the numerous advantages that using technology with students were shown to have, many teachers remain…

With the continued emphasis in the United States on science teaching reform as a way to increase science learning and the scientific literacy of all, the integration of informal science learning activities like citizen science is emerging as a possible way to enhance formal science teaching and learning. There is a limited but growing number of…

In 2019, the U.S. is still facing a shortage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce that is capable of solving social and economic challenges in 21st century worldwide. Numerous studies have explored the influence of integrative STEM approaches on developing student interest and career aspiration in STEM. Building on…

This dissertation conducted a science classroom intervention using two instructional approaches, computational modeling and paper-based pictorial modeling, in the context of food webs. A series of research papers were written on the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes and learning, and on teachers via professional development and…

This qualitative research examines design failure within a 5th grade science classroom that embedded engineering design activities. In adhering with a situative learning perspective, the goal of this research was to understand how design failure was portrayed to students through the written and enacted curriculum and in turn, how students…

This study used a design research framework to teach secondary high school science students about environmental sustainability. A high school teacher and researcher collaborated to design a two week environmental science unit to help students make sense of complex environmental sustainability issues. This dissertation study sought to answer the…

Reading and writing are central to the conception of science and the work of scientists. While recent scholarship on science literacy suggests the benefits of integrating reading and writing in science teaching, less is known about the extent to which science teachers implement such integration. This naturalistic study examines two sixth-grade…

Student engagement in math and science courses decreases starting in middle school and continues throughout high school (Museus, et al., 2011). This lack of engagement results in students taking only the required math and science coursework and not advanced coursework that would help prepare them for future careers in science, technology,…

Financial Literacy is one of the subject areas taught in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) courses which is not graduation requirement for high school students across Pennsylvania. The problem of practice I addressed is that Greensburg Salem High School (GSHS) students are graduating without the financial literacy knowledge and skills to become…

Science museums conduct presentations for their audiences to attract and educate visitors, yet research on presentations has primarily concentrated on whether individual presentations were effective. This mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study looks at how the presenter's mental and physical engagements within a presentation affects audience…